National News

'Horrific Here': Egypt Death Toll Passes 500

(NEWSER) – Egypt is bracing for yet more violence today. The Muslim Brotherhood has called for protest marches in Cairo, and hundreds already are marching in Alexandria, reports Reuters. Meanwhile, the government has raised the official death toll to 525 and the injury count to about 3,700, reports the AP, but those figures take into account only those victims who went through hospitals. The Muslim Brotherhood continues to insist that the real death toll from yesterday is closer to 2,000. Dispatches from foreign journalists are bleak: "So many dead protestors in the mosque I am visiting in Cairo that my feet are wet with disinfectant and blood," tweeted Jonathan Rugman from UK's Channel 4 News. "Horrific here." He also recounts an announcement at the mosque: "anyone who can leave, please do. The bodies are decomposing in the heat." Other developments:

The government has extended the detention of ousted President Mohamed Morsi for another 30 days, according to state media.

Egypt's interim PM says the decision to makeyesterday's deadly crackdown "was not easy," but the government had no choice in the face of failed mediation and "anarchy," the BBC reports. "We found that matters had reached a point that no self-respecting state could accept," says Hazem el-Beblawi.